How to Increase the Efficiency of a Call Center
Call centers are made to ensure the smooth functioning of an organization or operation. This makes efficiency a vital factor in the functioning of any organization. Majority of the expenses of any call center are on the management of the workforce. To streamline the functioning of an organization, it is important to understand the factors which contribute to the efficiency of an organization. Mentioned below are some of those factors.
Staff Shrinkage: No matter how many people are employed in your company, it is very rare to find all of them at work. There will always be some people who will be on leave, due to some reason or the other. Furthermore, during breaks, there will be less people at their desks and some people will find some reason to be away from their work station. This leads to shrinking in the number of staff available and reduces the efficiency. When staff shrinkage occurs and the incoming call volume is high, then it is bound to happen that calls will be missed. Therefore, to ensure this the shrinkage should never occur more than 10% of the employed staff.
Agent Occupancy: There is always a difference in the time logged in by the employee and the time actually spent working. The comparison of these hours is known as the agent occupancy percentage. You can find out about the efficiency of the agent by observing his occupancy percentage. A low occupancy percentage implies that an agent is wasting a lot of time in pursuits not favorable to the company. A very high percentage signifies that the agent could be overworked. An optimum percentage should be somewhere between 80 and 85% as this allows an agent to have good efficiency without having the risk of burnout.
Follow the Schedule: Every company makes a list of targets to be achieved, which it shares with its employees. A schedule is also made which enables its employees to plan their work, so to complete the list. Once done, this schedule should be followed regularly by the employees as it will lead to greater efficiency. However, if employees do not follow this schedule, then it will result in a loss to the company. Thus, it is important that every worker be dedicated towards completing his work in the stipulated time.
Nowadays, there are a lot of tools available that will help in improving efficiency in the work place. Primary among these are automatic call schedulers that will automatically place calls. These devices help to keep track of a large number of incoming and outgoing calls with very little hassle. Get more information about call center quality monitoring and IVR testing with Phone Number Monitoring.